By Art Beitchman
After the Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi, who had a weak 22-29 record last season with the team looking terrible, they stumbled into promoting longtime bench coach Rob Thomson as manager in hopes he could coax the team back to winning ways.
He was nicknamed “Topper” by former Yankee skipper Joe Torre for his ability to be “on top of things” for all the little baseball details, of which there are many.
Thomson led the Phillies to a 65-46 finish and their first postseason birth in over a decade, amazingly coming two games away from winning it all.
With a bolstered roster this team looks to compete for the World Series again, many additions including SS free agent star Trea Turner should make the already potent lineup even better in 2023 with the “Topper” calling the shots in the Phillies dugout.
